Mental Health Act 1959

51 Nearest relative of infant under guardianship, etc.

(1) Where a patient who has not attained the age of twenty-one years—

(a) is, by virtue of an order made by a court in the exercise of jurisdiction (whether under any enactment or otherwise) in respect of the guardianship of infants (including an order under section thirty-eight of the Sexual Offences Act, 1956), or by virtue of a deed or will executed by his father or mother, under the guardianship of a person not being his nearest relative under the foregoing provisions of this Act, or is under the joint guardianship of two persons of whom one is such a person as aforesaid ; or

(b) is, by virtue of an order made by a court in the exercise of such jurisdiction as aforesaid or in matrimonial proceedings, or by virtue of a separation agreement between his father and mother, in the custody of any such person,

the person or persons having the guardianship or custody of the patient shall, to the exclusion of any other person, be deemed to be his nearest relative.

(2) Subsection (4) of section forty-nine of this Act shall apply in relation to a person who is, or who is one of the persons, deemed to be the nearest relative of a patient by virtue of this section as it applies in relation to a person who would be the nearest relative under subsection (3) of that section.

(3) A patient shall be treated for the purposes of this section as being in the custody of another person if he would be in that other person's custody apart from section thirty-four of this Act.

(4) In this section " court" includes a court in Scotland or Northern Ireland, and " enactment " includes an enactment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.